Eastern Theological Jornal

Ridere come esorcismo contro la paura. Lettura performativa dell’Inno 52 dei Carmina Nisibena di Efrem il Siro

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

The article provides an Italian translation of hymn 52 from the Carmina Nisibena by Ephrem the Syrian, structured according to the genre of the dialogue of preeminence between Satan and Death, and analyzes it from the perspective of performative analysis. After an introduction (1.) situating the hymn and presenting the analytical tool, the author provides his version of the text (2.), with some remarks on his choices of translation. By offering a particular interpretation of the final verses of the madrāšā—namely, that the hymn concludes with an invitation to laugh at the two protagonists (an interpretation shared with P. Grelot and S. Brock)—the author shows how a performative analysis of the hymn (3.) highlights the cathartic and theological value of those final laughs (4.).

How to Be a Good Bishop? Answers and Examples from the Patristic Age

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

Is high clerical office incompatible with personal holiness? Does the episcopate constitute ‘work’ or ‘honor’? This article examines patristic authors and contextualizes the issue in late antique society. It suggests that the ultimate source for ecclesiastical authority is asceticism.

A New Coptic Anaphora Fragment with Quotations from Didache 9 (London, British Library, Or. 6877)

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

This article presents the first edition of an otherwise unknown, fragmentary Sahidic anaphora with translation, philological, and liturgical commentary. The manuscript, London, British Library, Or. 6877, described and partially transcribed by Bentley Layton in 1987, consists of two parchment double leaves and can be dated to the sixth or seventh centuries on palaeographical grounds. The extant text consists of the last two fruits of communion and the doxology of an anaphora, followed by Didache 9,3, 9,4, and 9,2 (the ‘bread’, ‘gathering’, and ‘chalice’ prayers), and an intercession for the deceased, which breaks off in the middle. The fruits of communion and the doxology bear close resemblance to the so-called ‘anaphora of Barcelona’. The quotes from Didache are near verbatim, even the doxologies of the prayers are kept. The intercession derives from a so-called ‘independent intercession’ of the oratio universalis. The anaphora is thus a veritable bricolage: to the end of an anaphora a compiler appended the prayers from the Didache 9 and an intercession. His purpose must have been to update an older formulary with units he considered essential in order to bring it in conformity with the usage of his place and time. As I argue, this compilation can be dated to the fourth or fifth centuries. This fragment is therefore a further witness to redactional activity on anaphoras in that period.

The Coptic Liturgy and Its Medieval Symbolic Tradition: A Reading Against the Backdrop of Schmemann’s Liturgical Theology

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

By far the writings of Fr Alexander Schmemann, archpriest, liturgical theologian, and former dean of St Vladimir Theological Seminary, have been the most influential writings on liturgy in the English-speaking world for decades. This has been true not just among scholars, clergy, and faithful of the Byzantine tradition, but also in other eastern Christian communities, whose members are also in search of English-language theological engagement with liturgy and worship. Among those non-Byzantine eastern churches is the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, the largest Christian community of the Middle East, with numerous diverse communities throughout the English-speaking world flourishing since the 1970s. In this article, I discuss Schmemann’s recurrent critiques of Byzantine liturgical symbolism against the backdrop of the Coptic tradition’s own heritage of Arabic liturgical commentaries. I conclude by highlighting the discrepancy between idealistic conceptions of liturgical theology and the concrete realities of liturgical texts, practices, and their often-shifting meaning throughout history.

La riforma liturgica della Settimana Santa nel rito bizantino: il caso del monastero di New Skete

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

This article examines the liturgical reform of Holy Week within the Byzantine Rite as undertaken by the Monastery of New Skete (Cambridge, NY), a monastic community originally founded in the Byzantine Catholic tradition in 1966 and now part of the Orthodox Church in America. Drawing upon the insights of the “Roman school” of Eastern Liturgy (notably Juan Mateos, Miguel Arranz, and Robert Taft) and inspired by the principles of ressourcement and aggiornamento promoted by the Second Vatican Council, the monks of New Skete implemented one of the most systematic and theologically grounded reforms of Holy Week in the contemporary Byzantine world. The article provides a critical analysis of this reform, which includes a revised lectionary, simplifiedliturgical structures, and original hymnography, all aimed at restoring the dynamic coherence between lex orandi and lex credendi. Special attention is given to the balance between fidelity to ancient sources, namely the traditions of Jerusalem and Constantinople, and pastoral adaptation to a postmodern American context. The study evaluates the theological and liturgical motivations behind the reform, its relation to broader ecclesial movements, and the potential implications for future developments in Eastern Christian liturgy.

Anmerkungen zum Entwurf des ungarischen Partikularrechts sui iuris in Bezug auf can. 835 CCEO

2026-02-16T13:39:14+00:00

Both Eastern and Latin law agree that laws must be understood according to the specific meaning of the words in the text and in the context; if this remains doubtful and unclear, then possible parallel places, as well as the purpose and circumstances of the law, and the intention of the legislator must be taken into account. However, it is unclear whether the aids of the interpretation of the law can only be used when the text of the law itself is not clear, or whether it is precisely through the aids of statutory interpretation that we can gain sufficient certainty whether the reading that seems evident at first sight is correct and corresponds to the legislator’s intentions. This paper discusses canon 835 of the Eastern Code, which states that dispensation from the form of marriage prescribed by law is reserved to the Holy See or the Patriarch, who grants it only for very serious reasons. At first reading, this short canon may seem clear.

However, I would like to show two specific examples from the draft text of the particular law of the Metropolitan Church of Hungary regarding marriage, which highlights the role of particular law and its relationship with common law and demonstrates the importance of understanding the intention of the legislator and the purpose of each canon in order to avoid errors in legal interpretation.

Recensione di: Alberto Lardiello, Essere per la speranza. La passione e virtù della speranza in Tommaso d’Aquino, Pazzini, Rimini 2025, 136 pp.

2026-02-16T13:39:13+00:00

Review of Samuel Fernández, Nicaea 325: Reassessing the Contemporary Sources, Brill, Leiden 2025, 329 pp.

2026-02-16T13:39:13+00:00